Trapped
by Naruto-Neko
Summary: Sequel to my FanFic A New Day, also about the amazing Ume, who is tough on the outside, but softens when she realizes just who cares about her. Much longer and overall better than the 1st in the series.
1. Chapter 1

**Trapped!**

**A Naruto-Neko original**

**Don't own Naruto. I so wish I did though.**

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><p>The sun was rising. Ume was walking through the village rather bored, she walked past a dark alley way a hand came across her mouth and dragged her in. She tried to scream, but the hand was too tight on her mouth to be able to open it. Something hard whacked her head from behind, and everything went dark.<p>

-spacer-

Gaara looked out of the huge window behind his desk. Sun was starting to rise after an all-nighter. However, something was off. He didn't think he could stand being in his office any longer. Gaara stood up and walked out.

Gaara was wearing a robe, the same one he wore when he had met Ume. He didn't want to be tackled by children and fangirls as he walked down the street. He found himself outside the apartment in which Ume had been living in for the past 2 weeks. He knocked on the door. Ume was normally awake by now. There was no answer. Worried, Gaara looked in the window. Ume wasn't there, but there was a note on the table.

Gaara opened the door, which for whatever reason was unlocked. He walked over to the table and read the note, since it was addressed to him.

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><p><em>Gaara,<em>

_I'm going out for a walk. I couldn't sleep. I'll be back before 8:30._

_ Ume_

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><p>Gaara glanced at the clock, which read 8:15. He decided to wait there for her. It's not like there was anything else he had to do. But, past 9:00, there was still no sign of Ume. Gaara went outside to look for her. He searched all over, but no one had seen her.<p>

Gaara had to return to the mansion eventually, but Ume was on his mind all day. He found it really hard to focus. For dinner, he walked out before Temari could come in with a frozen dinner. He was going to check if Ume had made it back yet.

Gaara knocked on Ume's door once more. No answer. Gaara walked in, and it was exactly the same, except there was a new note on the table. Gaara nearly dropped it when he read it.

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><p><em><strong>Gaara,<strong>_

_**If you wanna see Ume again, come to the hill where she normally goes tomorrow at 3 am. Be there alone, or she's dead.**_

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><p>It wasn't signed with anything. Obviously, it was a stalker of some sort, otherwise, heshe wouldn't know what hill she sits on, or that she even has a favorite hill. Gaara took the note, and walked as calmly as possible back to the mansion.

Gaara didn't tell anyone about Ume being missing. It would probably just put her in danger. Still, he couldn't rest until it was time to leave for the hill.

-spacer-

Ume opened her eyes. She was in a horrible, smelly, dank, dark hole of a cell. It was absolutely filthy, and she was lying on an equally disgusting cot that appeared to have been thrown up on. Ume jumped up and dusted herself off. Blood stained the place her head had been resting.

**THROB**

Her head suddenly exploded with pain, and Ume collapsed back onto the cot.

"Ughh… where the hell am I?"

A dark figure rose up out of the shadows in the hallway.

"Don't you worry about that, sweet Ume. Your boyfriend is coming to get you soon." It was a man. A creepy man, at that.

"Who?"

"Gaara, dear." The voice was chilling and snake-like, hissing the words.

"Gaara isn't my boyfriend." Ume stated calmly. No point in panicking, she thought.

"Whatever," the man blew her off. He disappeared as quickly as he'd come, leaving Ume alone in the smelly darkness that was the cell. There was a cracked clock in the wall, reading 12. Ume had no way of knowing if it was am or pm. She closed her eyes in the darkness, trying to block out the horrible smells bombarding her from all sides of the cell. Her only hope was that Gaara was going to notice the note on her table.

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><p><strong>AN: Thanks for reading. I can't help myself but create some romance. It's just the way I am, I guess.<strong>

**Naruto: What? I'm not even in this one?**

**Ana-chan: You don't know that yet!**

**Gaara: She means even she doesn't know that yet…**

**Ana-chan: Shut up! -pout-**


	2. Chapter 2

**Trapped**

**A Naruto-Neko original**

**Chapter 2**

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><p>Gaara was waiting on the hill in the shadows. He was unbelievably furious, but he couldn't figure out why he was so upset over Ume. He'd get her back… He was the Kazekage after all.<p>

Eventually a dark figure appeared on the hill, dressed in all black robes, hiding his or her face.

"Hello there, Gaara. Don't worry, Ume is safe." It was a man, by the sound of the voice. The voice itself was extremely creepy and slightly snake-like. The man threw a picture of Ume at him, with that day's Suna Post next to her. She was asleep on a filthy cot, but she appeared to be ok.

"Who are you?" Gaara asked, defensively. Round glasses glinted from beneath the robe in the moonlight.

"That doesn't matter. Now, about that ransom-"

"WHERE IS UME?" yelled Gaara suddenly, cutting off the creeper of a man. The man was startled, not by being cut off, but at the fact that Gaara actually yelled. Gaara was rumored to not have yelled since Naruto saved him from being merely a killing machine. And before that, he had only yelled about killing people.

The man raised his hands up. "Don't worry, you'll get your girlfriend back after I get the ransom."

Gaara looked down and muttered, "Not my girlfriend."

"Whaaaatever," replied the man, getting impatient. "The ransom, it's 2 billion Ryo."

Gaara looked at the man in disbelief. There was no way he could just give this crazy stalker man 2 billion Ryo!

-spacer-

Ume groaned and opened her eyes once more. The dirty old clock across the hall read 4:00. Looking closer, there was a small thing that read AM on the clock. Ume couldn't stand the smell in the cell.

"HEY! WHO'S INCHARGE OF THIS DUMP?" She screamed down the hall. No response, it seemed to be empty. This seemed like a good time to escape. She banged on the cell bars, which creaked open.

_Wow, fail, this wasn't even locked,_ she thought. She inspected the lock on the door, and discovered she had banged so hard she had actually broken the lock. Shrugging, she stepped silently down the hall. After about 20 steps, she stepped on a stone in the floor that slowly pushed down, and rumbling ensued.

"CRAP!" Before she could move, a large, heavy metal cage fell around her. It landed with a loud BANG. Ume heard loud, obnoxious, snorty laughter coming from down the hall, and she noticed a security camera. Ume smirked, and a cloud of smoke was where she had been. It was a clone!

Ume was sprinting down the hall, hitting random people as she went, knocking them out instantly. But, no matter which way she went in the labyrinth of halls, she always wound up right where she started, at the stench-filled cell. She didn't give up, until she fell asleep on the floor next to the cell.

-spacer-

Gaara had no choice but to knock the guy out. However much he needed to know where Ume was, he still needed time to come up with a plan to get her back. The guy was obviously not going to give her back without 2 billion Ryo in hand, and he wasn't going to tell where she was.

_Now, who in this world would help Ume? Hmm, let me think. OH YEAH! I bet Naruto would help!_Gaara suddenly looked up. Even his THOUGHTS were getting weird. He shook his head at his head, and walked back to the Kazekage Mansion. He had to think of some random excuse to go to Konoha again.

-spacer-

When Ume woke, yet again, she was placed in a slightly cleaner and sturdier cell. At least there wasn't puke on the cot and bones in the corner. There was arguing… about her… and apparently, Gaara had knocked out "the boss."

Suddenly, one of her favorite songs popped in her head. Without thinking, she suddenly started singing it. She stood up, to allow for more lung capacity.

_I wish I could cross my arms and cross your mind  
><em>'_Cuz I believe, you'll unfold your paper heart  
><em>_And wear it on your sleeve._

The guards looked up from their conversation, and yelled, "SHUT UP, PRISONER!" Ume just continued, ignoring their jeers and complaints and insults.

_All my life I wish I broke mirrors  
><em>_Instead of promises  
><em>'_Cuz all I see is a shattered conscience staring right back at me_

_I wish I had covered all my tracks completely  
><em>'_Cuz I'm so afraid  
><em>_Is that the light at the far end of the tunnel  
><em>_Or just the train?_

Ume's strong, powerful voice filled the hallways, causing everyone to stop and listen, even the guards who had originally complained.

_Lift your arms, only heaven knows  
><em>_Where the danger grows and it's safe to say  
><em>_There's a bright light up ahead  
><em>_And help is on the way, help is on the way_

Ume's voice became more emotional as she hit the chorus, and you could hear the pain in her voice. A dark figure with am oddly-shaped head approached from the shadows.

_I forget the last time I felt brave  
><em>_I just recall insecurity  
><em>'_Cuz it came down like a tidal wave,  
><em>_And sorrow swept over me._

Tears ran down Ume's cheeks as she sang her favorite verse, the one she relates most to.

_Depression please cut to the chase  
><em>_And cut a long story short,  
><em>_Oh, please be done, how much longer  
><em>_Can this drama afford to run?_

Ume continued with the song strongly, not as emotionally as before, but several of the guards had actually started crying, earning slaps and smacks from their equally moved superiors.

_Fate looks sharp, severs all my ties,  
><em>_And breaks whatever doesn't bend  
><em>_But sadly then, all my heavy hopes  
><em>_Just pull me back down again._

_I forget the last time I felt brave  
><em>_I just recall insecurity  
><em>'_Cuz it came down like a tidal wave,  
><em>_And sorrow swept over me._

_Then I was given grace and love  
><em>_I was blind but now I can see  
><em>'_Cuz I have a new hope from abooove  
><em>_And courage swept over me_

Ume finished the rest of the song softly, but still powerfully. The dark figure had a smirk on his face, barely visible from the shadows.

_It hurts just to wake up,  
><em>_Whenever you're wearing thin  
><em>_Alone on the outside,  
><em>_So tired of looking in_

_The end is uncertain  
><em>_And I've never been so afraid  
><em>_But I don't need a telescope to see that there's hope  
><em>_And that makes me feeeel braaave._

The dark figure finally stepped out of the shadows, revealing a half covered man, with round glasses and silver-grey hair, pulled back in a pointy pony-tail. One half of his body vertically was covered in a pale brown robe-like garment. He clapped slowly as he walked.

"Wonderful performance, Ume. Obviously, though, we haven't removed your _hope_ yet. Let me help with that." The man had a crazy voice, it sounded like to voices mixed together, one being very snake-like. He had a visible goose-egg on his head. It was very large and purple.

"You can't take that from me. You should be able to tell from that song."

"Gaara isn't saving you. He told me."

"Yeah, and that's why he conked you on the head?"

The man turned slightly red at the comment, and motioned for the guards to let him in. The man proceeded in, and slapped Ume on the face. When Ume attempted to strike back, the guards held her and bound her hands and feet.

"You will _never_ take away my hope!" She shouted before they put a gag in her mouth. The man injected anesthesia in her, and she passed out. On the edge of consciousness, she thought, _Gaara, _and gave in to the darkness that swallowed her.

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><p><strong>AN: Hopefully, you enjoyed this chapter. It's actually the longest chapter I've ever written. You should also be able to tell who kidnapped Ume. For obvious reasons, of course. Song is Tidal Wave by Owl City, and I feel very strongly about this song. If you like Owl City, PM me if you want. If you don't, I don't wanna hear it.<strong>** It's also the first time I've used a song… xD**

**Naruto: Haha! I was mentioned!**

**Ana-chan: Yeah, I can't leave you out.**

**Gaara: What are you doing to my character?**

**Ana-chan: Just go with it, Panda-chan. I will keep it cool.**

**Gaara: -mumbles- I'm not a panda…**

**Ana-chan: Yeah, but you look like one. Are you sure your mom wasn't part panda?**

**Gaara: YES!**

**Naruto: I think it's eyeliner.**

**Ana-chan: Let's let these people move on with their lives! SHEESH!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Trapped**

**A Naruto-Neko original**

**OK, before I start. I need you guys who read this to actually review. I mean it, or I will just discontinue and keep chapters beyond this one to myself and Katy-chan. I am not very motivated to write for no one. So, make yourself known and tell me you want to keep reading or I will quit uploading chapters. I haven't gotten a review in ages! Thanks, Ana-chan.**

**Chapter 3**

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><p>The message to the Hokage was sent that morning. No one knew what the message held except Gaara and the one who wrote the message, who took an oath not to tell a living soul what was in the message.<p>

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><p><em>Lady Hokage Tsunade,<em>

_Your kunoichi, Ume, whom has been in Suna for the past few weeks, has been kidnapped. I have attempted to get her back peacefully, but the captor has put up a ridiculous ransom of 2 billion Ryo. I will need the assistance of Naruto, and possibly his other team-mates. This is an emergency situation; send them as soon as possible. Do not tell anyone except the team what is going on._

_Kazekage Gaara_

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><p>Gaara was worried that waiting the at least 4 days for the message to arrive and Naruto to come would be too long, and by then it would be too late. His only option at this point was to search Suna for the base of the captor. This is what he decided to do, and looked all over town.<p>

Gaara was searching when he heard something that made him think he may be going crazy. Gaara thought he heard Ume's voice, singing. He faintly made out the words, _Depression, please cut to the chase, and cut a long story short…_

He ran towards the noise, stopping where he found it loudest.

_I__t's hurts just to wake up_

_Whenever you're wearing thin…_

Ume's voice was breath-taking. There was pain in her voice, but it was good to know she was still alive. She wasn't hurt badly, from the sound of her. Gaara exhaled sharply in relief. No one was around; it was a remote part of town that is abandoned.

Gaara sat there, ear to the ground, until she finished the song. He heard the man he had knocked out was talking, in his creepy voice, and he was clapping slowly. It was harder to make out the voices. The man said something about too much hope. Ume's powerful voice made it through better, and she made a remark like, "and that's why he conked you on the head…" Gaara assumed that they were talking about him. It made him almost laugh.

Gaara heard a loud smack, and a struggle. He clearly heard Ume shout, "You will _never_ take away my hope!" and a thump. From the sound, it must've been Ume since she's rather light, even for a girl. Gaara sat up.

_This is more urgent than I thought…_

~spacer~

Ume was still bound and gagged when she woke up once again. There was no clock in the hallway by her new cell. All she could do was lie there and think. It was torturous for someone like Ume to be restrained like this.

Normally, when she is trying to sleep before bed, her thoughts would wander, thinking about her life, what she should do the next day, what she would have done different that day. That sort of thing.

Ume thought about her situation, but it just made her feel like dying, so she changed subjects mentally. Her thoughts drifted to Gaara. The man seemed to mention him a lot… Ume thought the man was a stalker. He seemed to know too much for any normal person to know about her. She thought about when he may get her. She then felt like kicking herself. Why the hell was she relying on him all of a sudden?

Ume realized that she did act a little differently around him, even compared to Naruto, her childhood friend. Maybe that is why the stalker man thought Gaara was her boyfriend. At this, Ume began to wonder... _did_ she like Gaara like that? Well, she certainly had lots of time to think about that later.

~spacer~

When the message got to Tsunade, the first thing she did was make Shizune personally look for Naruto. Tsunade had barely let Ume go off on her own, and if Ume had actually waited to storm off after beating up Naruto and Sasuke and talked to her, Ume would be in Konoha right now. And then she gets herself kidnapped?

Tsunade was not a happy camper. Ume was extremely important to the village, especially since she was the reason the mission to bring Sasuke back succeeded. Ume was a good threat against hostile villages, too. Her name was feared across the lands, as well as admired and loved… Ume had certainly made a name for herself. But, Ume was in danger, and for once could not handle it on her own, it seemed…

"Tsunade-baa-chan! What happened?" Naruto burst in the door. Following behind him was Sasuke. He had a blank expression on his face.

"Before I tell you what is going on, I need to tell you that you cannot tell anyone else what is happening. ANYONE. Even Sakura!"

Naruto nodded, and Sasuke hn'd. Tsunade continued.

"Ume has been kidnapped in Suna." Tsunade told them bluntly. Naruto's eyes bugged out, his mouth open. He tried to say something, but couldn't force the words out.

"That isn't possible, and she wouldn't need our help anyway," replied Sasuke, glaring at a wall.

"Well, apparently, she IS kidnapped, and she DOES need help."

"I don't believe that. She always gets out of everything she wants."

"Well, it seems… she's _trapped."_

~spacer~

The night the message was sent, Gaara walked out of the mansion on his evening walk. He found himself on the spot where he can hear Ume. She seemed to be talking to herself.

"… and that is why, wall, I don't like eggs. They are so gross!"

Gaara realized she may be able to hear him.

"Hey, any guards around?" Gaara spoke in a deeper than usual voice, so if there was anyone around, they would figure out it was him and come out.

"Uh… no?" replied Ume.

"Ume, it's me!" he said in his regular voice.

"Gaara!" She said in a hushed but excited voice.

"We're going to save you,"

"We're? Who else?"

"I sent for Naruto, but Tsunade may send Sasuke, too. Possibly Sakura, but I doubt Sakura will be able to come."

"… they gagged me earlier, but I got out of it about 10 minutes ago… you're lucky you came just now, Gaara."

"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING ON YOUR COT? GET DOWN, PRISONER!"

Gaara sat up. He realized that they had both been pressed the ground/ceiling to hear each other better. Gaara_ blushed._

~spacer~ -Sasuke POV-

"Naruto, you do realize Ume may hate us forever if we save her?" I asked as wey jumped branch to branch like we had 5 years ago in team 7.

"I don't give a crap, Sasuke."

I rolled my eyes and Hn'd. We just continued on our way to Suna. I haven't seen the likes of Gaara since Team 7, so I wondered what he would be like. From what I'd heard from Temari, who is his sister, but visits Konoha often (from what I thought, to see Shikamaru), Gaara had been saved from being a heartless killer by Naruto. Something about friendship… which was also what saved myself, so Gaara, Naruto and I are connected… How the hell does Naruto do it?

**AN:**** Hope you enjoyed it, and again, REVIEW! I need to know what you think! Or I won't know what to think! And yes, I like putting the title of the story someplace in the story, cuz it's fun. And for the first time I used first person in here. 3rd prson is more my style, though, so don't you get used to it unless you be readin' In Konohagakure.**

**Naruto: YEAAUUH I'M IN THERE!**

**Sasuke: …'yeaauuh'?**

**Naruto: Yes!**

**Ana-chan: Where's Gaara?**

**Sasuke: Probably sulking… you did make him blush.**

**Ana-chan: Says the emo dude with chicken butt hair. **

**Naruto: Hahah… chicken butt hair…**

**Sasuke: -growls- Look, Naruto. Ramen.**

**Naruto: WHERE?**


	4. Chapter 4

**Trapped**

**A Naruto-Neko original**

**Chapter 4**

Gaara paced impatiently in his office. It had been 3 days since he had last talked to Ume, and Naruto was due any moment to be in Sunagakure. This was so stressful even Gaara couldn't sit still. He couldn't even believe how he was behaving over Ume, but he had decided to ignore this fact.

"GAARA!" Naruto burst in the office, as usual being loud and not waiting for anyone to say something. Sasuke followed after him, silent and brooding. Temari poked her head in. "Uh… Naruto's here!" She sweat-dropped and closed the door.

"How much do you know?" Gaara asked, getting straight to the point. The aura in the room was intensely serious, despite Naruto's entrance.

"That Ume is kidnapped," replied Sasuke for Naruto. Naruto seemed to be stuck on remembering.

"I know the location of her cell from above ground." Gaara then levitated out the open picture-window on sand, motioning for them to follow. "Ume may have been moved, but listen for her… I found her because she was talking to the wall." At this, Sasuke stifled a laugh, and Naruto carried on like talking to a wall was perfectly normal. Today was very strange.

~spacer~

"Waaah, I'm so booored!" Ume moaned at the guards. "Do something interesting for once!" The guards, as usual, ignored her. Ume suddenly smiled evilly as she got an idea.

"Hey, ugly!" she yelled at no one guard in particular. One guard, who seemed slightly fat, looked at her and his face was red. She laughed hysterically. "Aka-face!* No wait, even better, Aka-baka!" she screeched between wheezes and laughs.

The guard, now nicknamed Aka-baka, became furious and against orders not to harm Ume, threw a kunai at her, expecting her to be caught off guard in her hysterics. Against that belief, Ume deflected the kunai and stopped laughing, with a serious face, as if she had never laughed in the first place.

Ume picked up the deflected kunai, which had landed harmlessly on the cot, and threw it at the head of the head guard, killing him instantly. The subordinates of this guard scattered and panicked, and weapons seemed to scatter, too. A sword slid under the barred door of the cell.

Grabbing the nearest guard that passed by, she rested the sword on his throat. "Let me out, or you'll die right here and now," she whispered in his ear. The guard fumbled around, grabbing the key from his belt, and slid the key in the lock and turned it. The door clicked open. Ume stunned the man and ran out of the cell, knocking out those she passed. Ume is not into killing for no reason.

~spacer~

"She's moving about," Gaara said in a monotone, in attempt to mask his emotions, "there are shouts so I think she broke out." The other two nodded.

Suddenly, the shouting stopped. About 5 yards away, they heard Ume shout, "Take that!" and then a voice that sounded slightly familiar to Naruto, and extremely familiar to Sasuke. Gaara whispered that it sounded like the guy who met him.

"I'm gonna dig through!" Naruto whispered, and made about 10 shadow clones. They dropped on the ground and started digging with their fingers, hardly scraping the surface.

"Baka." Sasuke activated chidori stream and cut through the hard packed sand. Gaara lowered the circle of sand gently as to not alert anyone. The trio silently jumped down into the dusty, dark corridor that lay underneath the abandoned street.

As they neared the talking, Sasuke's face darkened. "Kabuto," he whispered.

~spacer~ -Ume's POV-

Why can't I ever get out of this freaking stupid, crazy place?

I always have to run into the boss-guy! WHY?

"I like your attempts at escape, but you might have noticed there is no way out."

I had an idea. I whispered, 'kai!' to see what would happened if I tried to release any genjutsu. Suddenly, behind the creeper dude there was a door marked "EXIT" in big, lit up green letters.

"Uh, yeah there is."

The man's eye twitched. "Where do you see an exit?" I pointed behind him.

"Right there!" Suddenly, I saw a senbon slid out of the man's sleeve into his hand. Automatically, I pulled out a kunai I grabbed from a guy I knocked out. Just then, the unexpected happened.

Naruto suddenly came out of the shadows, followed by Gaara and Sasuke. Naruto rammed straight into the creeper guy, knocking him out, and his senbon rolled across the floor. I was suddenly enveloped in an orb of sand, reminding me of when I beat up Sasuke. I heard Sasuke, muffled because of the orb, say something insulting to the man, calling him "Kabuto."

I sat down, cross-legged in the orb. "I was about to escape, guys." I was trying to sound mad, but honestly I was kind of happy all three came here to save me.

"It looked like you needed some help," Gaara said. His voice sounded different from when it was just the two of us. Was it the orb, or was he acting differently around Naruto and Sasuke?

Suddenly, my cheeks felt wet. I touched my cheek. Am I… crying? I shook my head violently, telling myself to calm down. If only I could do this before I was about to beat someone up!

Naruto and Sasuke were having their usual banter. Naruto is always trying to one-up Sasuke, though I'm not sure why. You'd think by now they'd consider each other equals.

"Can I come out now?" I asked nicely, but no one said anything. "Come on, I'm not gonna get myself kidnapped again," I said this more defiantly.

"Fine," Gaara gave in. I stood up as the orb crumbled. However, when I looked around, things seemed strange.

The sun had passed below the horizon, and twilight lit the sky. The whole village was bathed in creepy crimson light, causing me to shiver slightly as I looked at the sky. There was a bright pink and fire red stripe of cloud above the horizon, giving off eerie light. An ominous, nearly pitch-black cumulous cloud stretched into the bright cloud, like a dark omen.

As the sky darkened, the bright stripe turned into a darker red-ish pink, and the dark cloud stretched to form the shape of a person, head up as if to yell into the heavens. Dusk this day was just as creepy as twilight.

"Uh… it's kind of creepy out now." I said, stating the obvious. No one responded, again, so now I was starting to get mad. "Does someone mind telling me why no one wants to talk to me? I've been alone for I don't know how long, and I consider this abuse!"

"You've been gone about a week," Gaara said.

"Naruto, Sasuke? Anything?"

Naruto looked up at the sky. "I'm glad you're OK, Ume-chan." Sasuke Hn'd. I crossed my arms across my chest and ran ahead to the apartment in which I seem to live in now. They called after me, telling me to wait, but I just ran faster. I slammed the door behind me once I got inside.

~spacer~

Gaara knocked on the door of Ume's apartment.

"Go away!" Ume screamed at the door. She thought it was Naruto and Sasuke trying to bring her back to Konoha.

"It's me."

"Are Naruto and Sasuke with you?"

"No."

"Come in," she said, now sounding tired. As Gaara entered, he noticed that everything was cleaned up and dusted. Noticing his look around the apartment, Ume explained in a tired voice, her head resting on the table.

"When I'm angry, I tend to clean to work off the steam."

"Ah."

"Why did you come? To tell me to go back to Konoha? And where did Sasuke and Naruto go?"

"To the first question, no, I came to ask how you're feeling and to tell you that you can do whatever you want I'm not going to stop you. Second, they went home."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Ume looked up at Gaara, her eyes still red-rimmed from apparently crying. "Thanks, Panda-kun."

Gaara twitched, and said to her in a strangely squeaky voice, "I'm not a Panda!" But he noticed she had fallen asleep sitting up, her head lolling forward. Gaara picked her up and placed her on the bed, but to his embarrassment, she wouldn't let go of him.

"I wanna stay here with you _forever,_" she mumbled, and then released him. Gaara turned bright red, but stayed there, since it was already pretty dark. Before he knew it, he was asleep on her couch.

**AN: Hahaha… As for why I actually posted this, you can thank the fact I'm getting reviews for a different fan fic, so I'm in a better mood. I would just review and disregard my threats. **

***Aka=red in Japanese. I thought Aka-baka would be kinda funny since they rhyme. xD**


	5. Chapter 5

**Trapped**

**Naruto-Neko original**

**Chapter 5**

Ume did not want to wake up. Her bed was so unbelievable comfortable at the moment. However, the sun was directly in her eyes, making it impossible to continue her sleep. She slid to the edge of her bed, rubbing her eyes. As she looked up, she noticed a reddish-brown head, asleep on her couch. Jumping up, she screeched and tackled him.

"What are you doing here?" She yelled in his ear. Before he could answer, she shoved him on the ground and landed on top of him. The look in her eyes was murderous, and Gaara tried to say something but couldn't get anything to come out. A knock was heard at the door, causing the two to look up at the door.

Temari opened the door. "Gaara, you are needed... oh crap, never mind. I'll tell them you're… busy." She back-pedaled out, quite red in the face.

For a moment, they just looked at each other awkwardly, but Ume cracked up. She rolled off him and got up, padding into the kitchen.

"You hungry?" She asked nonchalantly, as if nothing weird had happened a minute before.

"Uh… a little?" Gaara managed to squeak out, getting to his feet. His face was redder than Temari's was. Ume went into her fridge and pulled out two very… old looking riceballs.

"Ew! I hoped they'd be good still… I put my last pickled plums inside them." Her brow furrowed in disappointment. "That's it! Be right back! I'm going to get pickled plums. Can you start some rice? My rice maker and rice is in that cabinet there…"

"Sure, I guess. 2 cups water for every one cup rice, right? I think that's what Temari keeps telling me."

"Yeah!" Ume shouted as she galloped out the door.

Gaara walked over to the cabinet that Ume had indicated and found what she was talking about. He started putting in a couple cups of rice when there was shouting outside the door.

BANG BANG BANG BANG!

"UME-CHAN, LET US IN!" A loud, familiar voice yelled at the door.

"Ume isn't here, Naruto. And, I told her you two were gone. I'd run before she comes back."

"Eh, Gaara? That's a little strange. What are you doing here so early?" Naruto's tone had changed completely, forgetting for a moment why he was there with Sasuke pretending not to know him.

"I was checking on her." Gaara said bluntly, telling a kind-of truth.

"For Kami-sama's sake, just let us come in, Subaku!" Sasuke finally said something, fed up with the girls looking at them at first in irritation, but then were mesmerized by Sasuke's good looks.

"The door's open," Gaara stated calmly, some-what formally. Sasuke strolled in, a little hurriedly to get away from fangirls. Naruto ran in after that, slamming the door to keep the charging girls from entering. Holding back the door, Naruto sweat-dropped.

"Sasuke, do you HAVE to create a mob everywhere you go?" He whined. Sasuke ignored him.

"When is Ume getting back," Sasuke asked in a monotone, revealing no emotion. Gaara didn't turn away from the rice maker, afraid to look at the outside of the small apartment.

"Ume is out getting pickled plums… you know how much she loves those. She should be back any-" Gaara was cut off by none other than Ume herself.

"OI! WHY IS THERE A MOB OF SCREAMING GIRLS BLOCKING MY DOOR?" _minute… _Irritation and murderous intent laced her words, shouted even louder than about 20 screeching fangirls. The screeching and screaming was suddenly silenced and in a flash all the girls were not in sight. "Sasuke, come out! I know at least _you're _in there. And Naruto is most likely there, too."

Unheard, Gaara exhaled sharply. Sasuke actually looked scared and shuffled outside like a child who knows they're about to be punished. Naruto followed suit, deadly white in the face. Gaara watched out of a window, curious to see what sort of torture-I-mean-punishment she'd administer.

"WHAT are you DOING here?" She looked so angry she could destroy all of Suna. Sasuke looked away and muttered something under his breath like, 'Naruto wanted to try to get you to come home,'

"You were supposed to be gone! And I'm not going home!"

"Why, dattebayo?" Naruto whined.

"Because… because! I don't want to leave Gaara." She said the first thing that came to mind.

"Hn. Are you in love with him?" Sasuke asked probingly. This was abnormal for him, causing Ume to be even further flustered. Instead of answering, she formed little claws on her finger tips, focusing her chakra. She then ripped Naruto and Sasuke's shirts to shreds, deftly avoiding marring their flesh before they could react. Once there was no way for them to cover their chests, she turned both boys around and shoved them towards the gates to the village. This, of course, caused a fresh mob of fangirls, who chased them until they were a good half-mile out of Sunagakure. As the dust settled, Ume found herself standing, her forgotten pickled plums at her feet, cheeks burning.

Ume picked up her plums and walked inside, calmer than usual.

"Why did you lie to me?" Ume said when she closed the door behind her. She sounded more sad than angry.

"I thought they were gone." Gaara was still holding back laughter after seeing what Ume did to her former teammates. Just then, the rice maker started going off, so the rice was done. Ume dropped the plums on the counter and dug around in her utensil drawer until she found her bamboo rice paddle. Gaara walked over to the couch to stay out of the girl's way. She set to work, carefully forming the balls in her palms.

"You want pickled plums in yours?" She asked quietly.

"No, thank you," Gaara responded in his more normal monotone.

"Suit yourself, more for me…" She made sure the pits were removed from the plums before placing them in the center of her rice balls. She unceremoniously wrapped each one in a piece of nori* before handing a couple to Gaara. She bit into one of hers and her eyes nearly crossed in bliss.

"This is so good!" She moaned between bites. Gaara snorted slightly.

"What did they feed you? Rocks?"

"Rocks would have tasted better…" Both started laughing so hard they almost choked.

Once all the riceballs were consumed, Ume began to tell him what had happened to her while she was kidnapped. Gaara nodded once or twice between pauses in her speech, but he didn't interrupt her. He was still worried at the end of her recollection, though.

"Ume, what are you going to do to keep yourself from being kidnapped… I have Kazekage duties, so I can't watch you all the time." Ume's left eyebrow twitched slightly.

"You think I can't take care of myself? The only reason I was kidnapped that time was because, A. I wasn't expecting to be attacked at 6 o'clock in the morning, and B. I was half-asleep."

"I know you're strong, but still." Seriousness was obvious in the Kazekage's face, an expression more familiar to those other than Ume.

"Oh, shut up. I bet I can beat you. I beat the crap outta Naruto and we all know he's gonna be the Hokage." The violet eyed kunoichi grinned challengingly at her companion.

"You wish. But Ume, just be careful…"  
>"Dude, you look like you have something BIG on your mind. What's up?"<p>

"I always look like this." He stated in (yet again) monotone.

"No, you don't. Not around me. Well, I notice you look really… serious when I'm not right there, seriously, what's UP?"

Gaara scowled slightly, afraid to tell the truth about what was on his mind, but in the end he figured it'd cause him less trouble to tell the truth. "Last night, when you had fallen asleep…"

"Yeah?"

"You said something, and you wouldn't let go of my neck…"

"YEAH? WHAT DID I SAY?" She looked a bit worried, which frightened Gaara further.

"'I wanna stay here with you _forever._'" Ume turned red. Gaara turned red. It seemed like the whole room was embarrassed.

"Ah… Gaara?" Ume said in an abnormally small voice.

"Yeah?"

"When Naruto and Sasuke were here, Sasuke asked me if I was in love with you…"

Gaara looked like a cornered rabbit. "What… did you say in response?"

"That was when I ripped up their shirts."

"Oh." He didn't know how to feel about that. "I… should be going. Duties…" He started to walk towards the door when Ume suddenly grabbed his wrist from behind.

"Wait a second." She said quietly, a little pleadingly. Gaara turned around, as she released his wrist. Looking at her face for the first time in a few minutes, he noticed how distressed she looked. Subconsciously, seeing her like that, he frowned slightly. She bit her lip, trying to decide what to do, and suddenly did something she hadn't exactly planned to do. She planted a kiss right on his lips. It was brief, and she turned him around again afterwards and pushed him slightly out the door.

"That, Gaara, is my response to his question."

Unseen, Gaara had a grin on his face, causing heads to turn as he practically skipped down the street.

**AN: Tadaaa! Finally, another chapter, right? Took me forever to get the ideas for this, but I thank Short-Flame for giving me the shirtless Sasuke and Naruto idea. THANKS! Review! Arigato-gozaimasu!**

**-Ana-chan**


	6. Chapter 6

**Trapped**

**A Naruto-Neko original**

**Chapter 6**

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><p>Gaara, being the Kazekage, had to do his duties eventually. But, he didn't stay long; he found it entirely impossible to focus. The morning's events were too, shall we say eventful, for any proper function of his male mind. It also helps that Temari made him leave to spend time with Ume by the time it was 17:00. She had apparently gotten over the initial shock quite quickly and was busy covering for him so he could spend a good deal of the day off.<p>

He wasn't sure how he was even going to approach Ume- a feeling he hadn't felt since the night he had met her. He was a bit nervous about it, but he decided Ume was likely to do something to un-awkward the situation. He decided to wear normal civilian clothing- it was a bit conspicuous for him to wear his robes or even his gear. He was stuck about his gourd- it would give him away, but still, it was too important to leave behind. He shrugged and strapped it to his back, as usual. He started to exit the room, but passed a nearby mirror and noticed his hair was all over the place. He stooped and started trying to smooth it down.

"What am I doing?" He asked himself out loud and exited with a look of determination upon his face. Well, it was about as determined as he'd ever look.

* * *

><p>Ume sighed. She was fresh out of clean shinobi wear, so instead she had pulled on a white, simple dress that she had bought because of the hot, stifling temperatures of the Suna afternoon. The aspect of a dress still made her scowl slightly, as she hadn't worn one in about 3 years. It felt strange and open.<p>

She had spent a good deal of the day cleaning- she was worried about Gaara's reaction. It wasn't that the apartment didn't need cleaning, but she only ever really cleaned when stressed so it brought back stressful memories.

It was now around 17:30, and the sun had just started to look like it may set soon. A small knock was heard at the door, and Ume assumed it was Gaara before she even opened the door.

"Hey," Gaara said. Ume blinked at his appearance, for she didn't ever remember him wearing a T-shirt, jeans, and… converse? He also seemed to have a hoodie with him. She shook her head at herself for a second and cleared her throat.

"H-hey there. You aren't wearing your shinobi gear."

"You aren't either," He pointed out. Ume blinked, looked at herself and formed her mouth into an 'o' shape.

"Oh yeah." She laughed a little, more of a 'heh' than anything. She looked up at Gaara with a look of curiosity on her face. "What's up?"

Instead of answering, he just smirked and grabbed her hand, leading her to the stairs down to ground level. She closed the door behind her and walked after him. "Gaara, you could at least tell me where we're going." She wasn't angry at all, and that made Gaara relax a little. _Heh, she'll find out soon enough._

* * *

><p>"Is this… the restaurant where I got you attacked by fangirls?" Ume asked incredulously.<p>

"Well, yeah, but also where we first met."

"Hunh. Interesting." Ume plopped herself down, grinning happily. A young girl walked up to the counter from the kitchen, smiling.

"Welcome! What would you like?"

"RAMEN! I mean, ramen please. Miso ramen."

Gaara stifled a chuckle at her eagerness. "I'd like the same," he added in a deeper-than-usual voice.

The girl nodded and disappeared again. Ume, as soon as the girl had left, started making a noise like "Ah-heee-uuhh-oohh-aaahh", with the most serious look on her face that Gaara'd ever seen.

"Ume…?"

"Uhh-aahh-yeah?"

"What _are _you doing?"

"Trying to un-awkward the atmosphere," she said solemnly.

"Ah."

"Yeah."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"AHAHAHA!" Ume suddenly laughed. "Too awkward!" Gaara just shook his head slowly in response, but didn't try to conceal the just barely noticeable smirk on his face. Mercifully, that's when the waitress girl came back with the two steaming bowls of ramen.

* * *

><p>Gaara was leading Ume towards a very familiar spot- her favorite hill. By the time they had gotten through their long dinner, it was nearly 20:00. Twilight was fading into dusk, faintly reminding Ume of that crazy twilight the night before. Gaara by now had pulled on his hoodie, its forest green bringing out what color he had in his eyes.<p>

As they reached the top of the hill, Gaara placed his gourd on the ground and sat down next to it. Ume sat down right next to him, her hand lightly brushing his.

"It feels so good out!" Ume exclaimed suddenly. The last of the dusk in the sky faded, and stars shone over the desert in a dense river of light. "Hey Gaara, I just randomly thought of something. In one of my favorite songs, there is a part that goes; _I'm just a shell as far as I can tell, so I paint my eyes a light green. _It reminds me of you, in a weird sort-of sad way. I saw you once before Naruto told you how to not be crazy, you know. The look in your eyes was sad, and angry. It was at the chuunin exams when I was rooting for Naruto. I was already a chuunin."

"Huh. Who's the artist?" Ume looked surprised for a moment Gaara knew anything about music, but smiled anyway.

"Owl City- it's a popular artist in Konoha. The song is 'Air Traffic'." She bent over a little and smiled at him. Her bangs moved a little further to one side, revealing a jagged, thin scar on her forehead normally concealed by her hair. Gaara noticed and his eyes widened slightly.

"Ume, what…" He started. Ume's smiled faded and she looked down at her legs.

"The scar, right? I know, it's weird that any shinobi would have a scar, but the wound I had was… different." She looked as if she were on the verge of tears.

"You don't have to tell me what happened if you don't want to, Ume." Gaara told her softly.

"No, I think I need to… anyway, it's because of Sasuke. He had turned on the Leaf, and was gone for 4 years. Naruto was _finally_ back from training and ready to go after him. We left Sakura behind, because we had no idea what she'd do if we managed to get to Sasuke, let alone get through to him about how revenge consumes people to where they aren't themselves anymore. So it was Naruto, Kakashi, and me on the mission. We eventually did reach him, and took down his cronies. I hated one in particular; she had red hair, red eyes, and dressed like a slut. Anyway, once we got to him, Naruto was worthless- he was just yelling at Sasuke. I made Kakashi get Naruto away.

"So I told him, 'Sasuke, revenge is not the answer. If you give in to the beast, it shall consume your soul.' He scoffed and told me that it was too late; there was no other path for him. I… walked up and slapped him. For a second, he just looked at me. But then… he hit me in the face with chidori, point blank. I was lucky Naruto is so… dang fast, or I wouldn't be here with only a little scar I can hide with my hair."

"Ume, did you love Sasuke?" Gaara asked suddenly. Ume choked on her breath, and tried desperately to take control of her emotions and calm down.

"Y-yes, but not anymore. He's just a shell of what he used to be. Besides, I have been away from him for over 3 years. And I love someone else." She blushed and looked away towards the moon.

"I love you too." _Oh dear Kami did I really say that out loud? _Gaara started seeing dots on the edge of his vision. He barely heard a giggle to the side of him and felt Ume's hand rest on his. _Oh… guess I didn't mess up then? Girls are confusing, especially Ume and Temari._

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><p><strong>AN: I'm sorry for putting off updating so long… I swear I wanted to 5 days ago but I was too busy being away from home I couldn't write the last paragraph… review please! I need suggestions for the next plot of Kabuto, so if you want add that into your amazing reviews.<strong>


	7. Chapter 7

**Trapped**

**A Naruto-Neko original**

**Chapter 7 –Ume POV-**

_What keeps exploding? _Similar inquiries ran through my mind as I tried to locate the source of the near continuous explosions. I heard random bits of shouting, including 'art', 'is', 'an', and 'explosion'.

"SENPAAAI! TOBI IS A GOOD BOY! PLEASE DON'T BLOW ME UP!"

Finally, I saw a crazy blonde with mouths on their hands. I couldn't even tell from behind, but I think it's a guy from the voice. There was obviously another one, but they weren't in sight. I summoned my bow, and drew an arrow. This guy was a sitting duck; he wasn't even trying to look behind him. _There. _ I aimed for his heart.

"Katsu," BOOM!

"UWAA! SENPAI!"

I released the arrow. Just when it flew off, the blonde collapsed with laughter. I tried again, only for him to roll. I facepalmed and decided for a more… direct approach. Whipping out my katana after sealing away my quiver and bow quickly, I stormed (somehow gracefully) over.

I leaped into the air, aiming to strike him from above since he was on the ground. He rolled over and got up, facing me.

"Who are you, un?" I pulled my katana out of the ground and grimaced.

"I could ask you the same thing. Are you Deidara of the Akatsuki? You know, the one who attacked Subaku Gaara, the Kazekage of the Hidden Sand village? S-rank missing nin?"

"Uh, yeah. Is that a problem, un?" He looked confused.

"HECK YEAH THAT'S A PROBLEM!" I dropped into an offensive stance, worried because this guy was definitely long-range. It wouldn't be easy to get up to him, but once I got there that was basically it for this guy.

"Why are you so upset? Looking at your head band, you're from Konoha. What does the Kazekage matter to you, un?"

"OK, really, I don't have time for this. But I'm kinda-sorta dating him."

"Oh ho ho, un!"

"Oh, shut up!" I charged at Deidara, hoping to catch him off guard. With any luck, he had used up most of his clay on the swirl-mask dude. Of course, he started throwing tiny clay birds at me. I dodged easily, but one came back and hit me right near my tailbone. I lurched forward, and screeched madly. NO ONE tries to blow up my butt! I sliced through explosive ammunition and managed to slice off a good bit of his weird bangs, revealing an eye that was covered by a crazy device of some sort that most likely enhanced vision.

"Oh no, you did not just do that, un!"

"Yes, yes I did, actually."

"You know what? Talk to the hand." He held up a hand, but in the palm of that hand was a mouth.

"Uh, hey there hand! Guess what?"

"Whaaatttt?" It spoke in a drawn out voice.

"I'm gonna slice you off now!" I replied sweetly. I sliced the hand clean off before Deidara even had a chance to react. His reaction though was a little scary. He sobered completely and started acting seriously. He didn't say anything, but he definitely looked murderous. However, his new handicap was not going to make it easy to beat me. You know, not that it was in the first place. In the back of my mind, I thought briefly that I hadn't really expected the hand-mouth to actually reply.

Before I could slice his head off, he jumped back and threw down what appeared to be a tiny clay bird. As it neared the ground near his feet, it expanded to be huge and picked the Akatsuki member off the ground. Definitely not the same as the ones before. He started flying above me, doing a serious aerial assault, nearly blowing me up. I dodged multiple times, hoping he'd wasted a good portion of clay already on his comrade, but the guy must have been loaded.

"Tch. This is getting annoying." I muttered. Right as Deidara swooped down close, I threw a kunai right into his uninjured arm. He grunted slightly and nearly crashed, but he kept going. Honestly I wanted to slice the head straight off that annoying bird thing, but I didn't want to risk it blowing up on the impact of my blade. I jumped back into the trees where he couldn't fly and summoned my bow and quiver yet again. Not bothering to waste the chakra necessary to seal the katana, I slid it swiftly and carefully in between my shirt and the cloth that wrapped my waist. I didn't have time to worry about the safety of that action.

I jumped onto a branch in a sturdy old deciduous tree. Hidden in the leaves (ha ha get it?), I aimed for his back, now facing away from me. Stupid guy was looking for me in the wrong direction. I released the chakra-strengthened arrow, and watched it zoom precisely to the spot on his back where it could reach his heart. _For you, Gaara. _

But of course, I missed. Stupid bird thing moves too much! I felt extremely frustrated. Long battles are NOT my style, I'm more of an assassin. I leave those to Naruto! But, I have to keep my cool or I'll probably slip up and die. I wished for a second that Gaara wasn't so busy being the boss-man of an entire village so that he could whack that idiot of his bird. But I knew Suna needs him, and my only other hope would be something I really do not want to deal with right now. Naruto.

My failure to hit Deidara gave away my position, so he went up above the canopy and started dropping clay bombs from above. As I dodged and ran, I couldn't stop thinking, 'POOP! CRAP! POO! CRAP! AGH! RUN RUN RUN RUN RUNNNNN!' In an attempt to get him of the bird, I abandoned thought about explosions and sliced the clay bird in two with my katana. Deidara feel down onto the forest floor, and thankfully the bird wasn't rigged to explode upon impact. When I thought about it, making it rigged would be really dangerous and sort-of suicidal of Deidara.

I dropped silently down from above and landed about 10 feet away from Deidara, who was already standing again.

"Why don't you give up little girl, because there is no way you could hope to beat me. Even your little boyfriend couldn't beat me. Your death will be pure art, un!"

"I can't give up. I promised. NOW DIE!" I screamed.

-flashback-

"Ume, where are you going then?" Gaara stood facing the window in his office.

"I… don't know. Not Konoha. But somewhere. I have too much energy, and I'm getting out of shape." She muttered something like, 'stupid rice balls' under her breath. Gaara sighed slightly.

"I would go with you… but I really can't leave the village right now." He turned to face her. "I'll miss you, Ume."

Ume chuckled. "Gaara, I'm coming back! I promise! I'm probably just going to do a couple missions and come back. But I'll miss you too." She looked deep into those blue-green eyes and nearly sighed aloud. _Why is it so darn hard to leave him for a couple weeks?_

-End flashback-

I lunged for Deidara. _No way am I going to die, with Gaara unaware where I am._ Deidara threw clay birds at me, and I was going too fast to dodge. I was flung by the explosion about 40 feet away. Deidara walked up to me as I was unable to get up and smirked at me condescendingly. He held a single blob of clay in his hand.

"C4." He said the word simply with triumph obvious in his voice. Just then, he shuddered suddenly and fell to the ground. Behind him stood a man wearing a similar robe as Deidara and an orange mask. Visible in the single hole in the mask was a red eye.

"That one needs to stay alive," was all he said as he disappeared in a swirl, holding his partner up.

"What the heck was that about?" And then the world went black.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note: Hey, I'm baaack! Sorry I've been gone so long. Busy with school, illness, surgery, the list goes on. I'm glad to be back, though.<strong>

**So yeah, please review. Hopefully the first chapter in a couple months is pretty good. I tried to make Deidara and the fight believable, but fight scenes are hard to keep interesting AND believable.  
><strong>


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